From [HERE] Choking up at times, a second Fresno police officer testified Tuesday that he saw no justification for a fellow officer to shoot an unarmed, defenseless suspect with a beanbag shotgun and another officer kick him. "I was in a state of disbelief," Thomas Hardin Jr. told the jury in U.S. District Court. "I was put in a situation that was bad."

In the second week of a trial over alleged excessive force, Hardin's account echoed that of officer Martin Van Overbeek, who completed his testimony Tuesday morning. Both officers testified that Rolando Celdon offered no resistance when former officer Chris Coleman fired beanbag rounds at him and former officer Paul Van Dalen kicked him while making an arrest in October 2005. The officers' testimony is key to the prosecution's case because Celdon, who was deported after being convicted of stalking and striking his girlfriend, can't be found in Mexico and will not testify in the trial. A third officer, Beau Burger, could testify today for the prosecution.

Van Dalen and Coleman are accused of using excessive force while arresting Celdon, and Sgt. Michael Manfredi and former officer Sean Plymale are accused of concealing the alleged assault. All four are charged with falsifying an official report to obstruct justice. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison.

Both sides agreed that during the early hours of Oct. 10, 2005, Celdon broke into his girlfriend's southeast Fresno apartment, threatened her life and hit her in front of her young son. Celdon left before police arrived. A short time later, Plymale and his police dog, Tymo, confronted Celdon a few blocks from the girlfriend's home.

Hardin testified he rolled up to the scene shortly after 2 a.m. and saw Plymale standing on the opposite side of a 6-foot fence topped with barbed wire checking Tymo for injuries -- 5 to 10 feet from Celdon who was lying in the dirt in pain from being bitten.

Hardin said he didn't know at the time that Tymo had clamped onto Celdon's ankle and that Celdon had taken the 70-pound dog over the fence.

Hardin said he noticed Coleman holding a shotgun that fires beanbags filled with pellets. He said he saw three or four spent shell casings on the ground and Van Overbeek standing next to Coleman.

Then Van Dalen arrived and he quickly jumped over the fence, Hardin testified.

"Do you need any help?" Hardin asked. But Van Dalen didn't respond, he said.

Per department policy, Hardin, a rookie at the time, said he pulled out his gun in case Celdon became combative. He said Burger arrived and did the same thing.

Hardin testified he quickly realized that Celdon had nothing in his hands and he was not fighting. "He was kind of crying and he had a scared look on him," he told jurors. "There was no threat."

Hardin also told the jury that he believed Celdon could be easily handcuffed. Instead, Coleman shot Celdon and Van Dalen kicked him, he testified.

Hardin said Manfredi arrived and got upset when Coleman fired a final round at Celdon. He wasn't upset with Celdon's alleged mistreatment, Hardin said. The sergeant was mad that the shotgun blast hurt his ears, Hardin said.

Seeing no threat, Hardin said he put his gun away. So did Burger, he said.

Like Van Overbeek, Hardin told the jury that Coleman and Van Dalen joked about shooting Celdon in the testicles, but Coleman declined to do it. Hardin also said Celdon complied with orders from a Spanish-speaking officer.

After the incident, Hardin said he told Burger: "That was crazy."

Hardin said he didn't initially report Celdon's arrest to Internal Affairs. He also testified that Manfredi told him he didn't need to write a report and that Manfredi asked him if Celdon's arrest "shocked my conscience."

Hardin said he told the sergeant no because he didn't want to alarm him about his thoughts of the incident.

Holding back tears, Hardin said he had no beef with any of the defendants. Talking to IA investigators, he said, was "something that's hard to do."

The four officers were fired after an internal police investigation.

Manfredi, however, won his job back through an arbitrator and a civil service review board. An arbitrator ruled that Plymale should be reinstated, too, but he chose to remain with the Madera Police Department. Coleman and Van Dalen left police work.